Shutterbug Shuts the Door on Print After 45 Years
The photography enthusiast magazine is going digital only in response to dwindling ad revenues and higher print costs.
Much like photography itself, Shutterbug magazine is turning its focus to digital.
Today, UK-based AVTech Media announced it is ceasing Shutterbug magazine’s print edition after 45 years in order to pour more resources into its website, citing a seven-fold increase in digital traffic over the last four years. Despite a circulation of nearly 100,000 readers, the cost of production and slipping ad revenues evidently called for a strategic shift.
“Shutterbug magazine had a great run, but the media landscape has changed dramatically in the last four-plus decades, and we felt now was the time for Shutterbug to become a dynamic, web-only publication,” said editor-in-chief Dan Havlik said in a statement. “Shutterbug.com has grown dramatically in recent years with record traffic and expanded reach to photographers around the world. We can now dedicate all our resources to further growing our online presence and expanding our video, social media, mobile and e-commerce channels.”
Shutterbug isn’t the first legacy photography magazine in recent memory to call it quits. Popular Photography closed its doors in March of 2017 after an 80-year run. But unlike Popular Photography, which shuttered outright, Shutterbug is confident that it can carry on through digital.
Of course, just what that dramatic increase in traffic translates to in real numbers is unclear. Nevertheless, the company is confident that its website will create a sustainable business and plans to add more content to the site to keep users engaged.
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Caysey Welton is content director of Folio:
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